Cottage on the Bay

Deja vu. All over again. Funny how much can change in a year- and how much stays the same. The weather gods are, once again, messing around up there. It was unseasonably warm for a stretch (after a colder-than-is-normal summer) and now, with the annual cottage weekend approaching, the temps are about to plummet. Again.

Nevertheless, I will be heading north Friday morning for some good times on the Bay. The reading material is different this year (was hoping for Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam’s memoir- but it’s not out until next Tuesday, so I’ll pick out something in its stead), and the cast of characters will be slightly different- due to other commitments and that whole life thing.

But there will be music, catch up chats, silliness and tranquility (and that Risk tourney- but I’m pretending that won’t be happening). And the lake. And the stars. And friendship. A chance to just relax and reflect and absorb the past 12 months- the good, the bad, and the life-altering.

Oh- and extra firewood this year. LOTS of extra firewood. Have to avoid the hypothermia at all costs. Flying off on vacay next week…

All things for which I am thankful. I’ll be holding onto that anticipatory feeling tonight as I watch the POTUS address an increasingly distressing international situation.

One last summer weekend… Bring it on!

colemining

What’s up with the weather gods in TO?

Seriously.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were dealing with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees (that’s about 100 degrees Fahrenheit if you’re still using that quaint means of measuring) when the humidity was factored in.

Today?  Chilly north wind.  Tomorrow?  CHILLIER north wind.

And I’m going to be on a rock in the middle of the Bay.  About 2 degrees Celsius overnight.  TWO DEGREES.

I’m not ready for summer to end, so, despite the less-than-ideal temperature, I will do the true Canadian thing and head north this afternoon for an annual pilgrimage with some of my best peeps.

We try to do this every year.  A couple of nights away, sans spouses/significant others, to just hang out and catch up a little.

We have known each other for decades (as I both date myself and make myself feel old) and have been hanging out…

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Shattering Illusions

So ends the first week of the new school year and, as usual, it has me doing some thinking and reflecting as I try to put some thoughts and words together into something approaching a cohesive whole.

It’s also the first weekend of TIFF- so the city has exploded in celebration of the science of illusion-creation.

As the temperature soars (40 degrees when you factor in the humidity today) I’m doing my best to keep cool and carry on (amidst the insane crowds ’round my neck o’ the woods), so I’m thinking that the first part of the weekend will include watching the mini-series about the master of illusions that is hanging out on the PVR awaiting my gaze.

Happy weekend!

colemining

This time of year is always one of reflection for me.  I think it has to do with the whole ‘new beginnings’ thing that comes with the start of a new school year.  This is the fourth September that I won’t be heading back to the classroom- either as a student or a professor- after manymanyMANY years of it being the norm.

But I still find that the self-analysis and evaluation happens more at this time of year (and on Christmas Eve as well- pagan that I am) than at any other.

Heavy thoughts, sometimes, as the summer winds down and the last days of warm weather and relative quiet in the neighbourhood persist.

The other night I got to thinking about illusions- those we hold dear and those that we suddenly seem to discover either have been or are in desperate need of being shattered.  Not just quietly set…

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